Robotics and AI are already being utilized in various industries and are beginning to develop in the construction industry. Many aspects of the industry are going to change dramatically because of construction automation [1]. While some traditional roles will be filled by this automation, safety and efficiency will increase dramatically and new jobs will be created where positions will need to be filled.
Some issues that we currently face are low quality work due to unskilled or unprofessional laborers, safety concerns associated with certain tasks, and deadlines must be met to keep a project on schedule. Construction automation will address each of these issues and more. Robots would be programmed and/or taught how to complete a task and will perfectly execute that task any number of times [2]. They would be able to complete dangerous tasks without the risk of any person being injured or killed on the job. And lastly, construction automation would mean that the job site is active at all hours of the day. Traditionally, three 8-hour shifts would be very costly and overtime would have to be paid on weekends. However, you would only need specific supervisors and technicians to keep an eye on the robots throughout the day which would be cost effective and greatly increase the overall timeline of construction.
3D printing and robots would greatly improve the speed and quality of specific tasks on a job site. Entire structures are already being created out of certain materials and the speed of the printing itself will only increase as time goes on. Also, very repetitive tasks such as masonry work would be more precise and cost-effective [3]. Many of these robots are already being used and developed so that they will be more affordable and more efficient in the future. I believe that these machines will be used on almost every major construction project in the near future.
[1] Robotics Online Marketing Team. "Construction Robots Will Change the Industry Forever." Robotics.org. 17 April 2018. https://www.robotics.org/blog-article.cfm/Construction-Robots-Will-Change-the-Industry-Forever/93
[2] The B1M. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube. 30 May 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ
[3] Hamakareem, Madeh Izat. "Construction Automation – Applications and Advantages in Construction." The Constructor. 2018. https://theconstructor.org/construction/construction-automation-applications-advantages/16644/
Response 1: Andy Kuriatnikov
I agree that sensors are key to intelligent building operation. I look forward to when buildings will run themselves and will keep occupants safe and comfortable just by using sensors. I like that you mentioned the internet of things because it really is where we are headed. Reducing energy consumption is also an important factor in future building construction.
Response 2: Aaron Goldberg
We mentioned a few of the same things when it comes to AI and future jobs in the construction industry. The industry will benefit a low but some traditional jobs will be phased out. We will need to adapt to the changes or, even better, get ahead of the changes. I like that you mentioned that the quality of work will be better and the cost of the work will be lower.
Response 3: Hailey Ihlow
I like how to mention that we will advance as technology does. You make a good point that we need to think about what the future of technology will look like so that we can understand the pros and cons of them. We are already seeing the pushback against self-driving cars even though the technology is almost there. It will be interesting to use technology that does not need any form of replaceable or rechargeable battery in the future.
Showing posts with label B1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B1. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
How BIM will be used to 3D print structures in the future
This assignment required students to read about each topic separately with regards to an overall theme. My topics are BIM, 3D printing, and structure and the theme is the future. At the end, I will be combining them all into one, “How BIM will be used to 3D print structures in the future.”
BIM:
BIM softwares have only recently started becoming more mainstream. The co-ops I’ve worked at still have a physical archive of their paper drafts. It also may not be possible to scan them if there is a chance that the scanner will miss a very fine detail or mistake a dot for a speck of dust. However, the co-ops all used AutoCAD for drafting orthographic drawings. Now, BIM softwares such as Revit are more relevant since they can contain many aspects of building design in one file. As time goes on, the use of Revit and other BIM softwares will become more widespread because it allows everyone from the clients to the engineers to the contractors to see the same product.
3D Printing:
I would like to start off by saying that my experience with 3D printing is very limited. Four years ago, I got to see the process of using a 3D scanner that used laser triangulation to create a topographic model of someone’s face. From there, the smooth topographic model was converted into a polyhedron made of many triangle faces. Lastly, a bar of soap was cut out to form a miniature soap bust of a head. Obviously, this is the type of basic 3D printing that happens at home or in a class. However, within a few years, 3D printing has advanced very far. The ability to extrude concrete, metal, and glass allows construction of intricate details for buildings or make quick work of constructing simple objects. MIT has been experimenting with 3D printing glass as early as 2015. Where previous attempts created structurally weak and opaque glass, “The high-temperature system developed by the MIT team retains those [desired] properties, producing printed glass objects that are both strong and fully transparent to light” (Chandler, 2015). The high temperature is nothing to shrug off, considering the extrusion nozzle can reach almost 2,000 °F in order to create these pieces of glass. Currently, many new buildings happen to have glass curtain walls that allow a lot of sunlight to illuminate buildings. The use of glass printing may be very useful in the future.
Structures:
The physics behind structural engineering hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. What’s new is the different types of structures that have emerged with better materials and building techniques. For example, the diagrid structure for buildings. With better computers now, there are softwares that are capable of FEM analyses and other calculations that would take humans way too long to process. This allows new ways to analyze the effectiveness of new structures. An example of this is the crew partition in the European Airbus. The current partition weighs 143 lb but with the new design based off of bones and slime molds, the proposed partition weighs 66 lb (Rhodes, 2015). This biological-structure approach is possible with Autodesk software that was used in the medical field. New softwares allow different approaches to the structural engineering field because as long as load paths are accounted for, the software could theoretically be able to optimize paths.
Combined:
MX3D proposed a pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam back in 2015 where the construction would be done by 3D printed metal with aesthetically pleasing details (Starr, 2015). The 12 m long bridge structure was completed in 2018 and is currently being load tested by Arup and others (Block, 2018). If successful, it may be installed in 2019 over a canal in the Dutch capital. Figure 1 shows a picture of the metal bridge being manufactured in a shipbuilding hangar. This technology is a very innovative process that could change the way modern architecture is created.
BIM:
BIM softwares have only recently started becoming more mainstream. The co-ops I’ve worked at still have a physical archive of their paper drafts. It also may not be possible to scan them if there is a chance that the scanner will miss a very fine detail or mistake a dot for a speck of dust. However, the co-ops all used AutoCAD for drafting orthographic drawings. Now, BIM softwares such as Revit are more relevant since they can contain many aspects of building design in one file. As time goes on, the use of Revit and other BIM softwares will become more widespread because it allows everyone from the clients to the engineers to the contractors to see the same product.
3D Printing:
I would like to start off by saying that my experience with 3D printing is very limited. Four years ago, I got to see the process of using a 3D scanner that used laser triangulation to create a topographic model of someone’s face. From there, the smooth topographic model was converted into a polyhedron made of many triangle faces. Lastly, a bar of soap was cut out to form a miniature soap bust of a head. Obviously, this is the type of basic 3D printing that happens at home or in a class. However, within a few years, 3D printing has advanced very far. The ability to extrude concrete, metal, and glass allows construction of intricate details for buildings or make quick work of constructing simple objects. MIT has been experimenting with 3D printing glass as early as 2015. Where previous attempts created structurally weak and opaque glass, “The high-temperature system developed by the MIT team retains those [desired] properties, producing printed glass objects that are both strong and fully transparent to light” (Chandler, 2015). The high temperature is nothing to shrug off, considering the extrusion nozzle can reach almost 2,000 °F in order to create these pieces of glass. Currently, many new buildings happen to have glass curtain walls that allow a lot of sunlight to illuminate buildings. The use of glass printing may be very useful in the future.
Structures:
The physics behind structural engineering hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. What’s new is the different types of structures that have emerged with better materials and building techniques. For example, the diagrid structure for buildings. With better computers now, there are softwares that are capable of FEM analyses and other calculations that would take humans way too long to process. This allows new ways to analyze the effectiveness of new structures. An example of this is the crew partition in the European Airbus. The current partition weighs 143 lb but with the new design based off of bones and slime molds, the proposed partition weighs 66 lb (Rhodes, 2015). This biological-structure approach is possible with Autodesk software that was used in the medical field. New softwares allow different approaches to the structural engineering field because as long as load paths are accounted for, the software could theoretically be able to optimize paths.
Combined:
MX3D proposed a pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam back in 2015 where the construction would be done by 3D printed metal with aesthetically pleasing details (Starr, 2015). The 12 m long bridge structure was completed in 2018 and is currently being load tested by Arup and others (Block, 2018). If successful, it may be installed in 2019 over a canal in the Dutch capital. Figure 1 shows a picture of the metal bridge being manufactured in a shipbuilding hangar. This technology is a very innovative process that could change the way modern architecture is created.
Figure 1. 3D printed steel bridge construction (Block, 2018)
Sources:
Block, I. (2018). Robots complete span of 3D-printed bridge for Amsterdam canal. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/04/17/mx3d-3d-printed-bridge-joris-laarman-arup-amsterdam-netherlands/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].
Chandler, D. (2015). Printing transparent glass in 3-D. [online] MIT News. Available at: http://news.mit.edu/2015/3-d-printing-transparent-glass-0914 [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].
Rhodes, M. (2015). Airbus' Newest Design Is Based on Bones and Slime Mold. [online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2015/12/airbuss-newest-design-is-based-on-slime-mold-and-bones/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].
Starr, M. (2015). Gravity-defying 3D printer to print bridge over water in Amsterdam. [online] CNET. Available at: https://www.cnet.com/news/gravity-defying-3d-printer-to-print-bridge-over-water-in-amsterdam/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].
Blog 1: BIM and 3D Printing
The future of the construction industry is BIM in some form. Continuously improving, and becoming more and more dominant as the go to tool in the construction industry, BIM has revolutionized the construction industry by improving visualization, productivity, and coordination, while reducing costs.
The use of BIM in designing high cost, large scale and complex projects has proven its effectiveness. On the opposite side of the cost spectrum, studies have been conducted to analyze the usefulness of BIM in designing low-cost buildings, like temporary housing [1]. According to Lachmi Khemlani, “...we could facilitate the process by exploring how advanced technologies such as BIM can be applied, not only towards improving buildings and processes that are already quite good to begin with, but also in tackling the challenges of housing for the lower half of society” [1].
The use of BIM in designing high cost, large scale and complex projects has proven its effectiveness. On the opposite side of the cost spectrum, studies have been conducted to analyze the usefulness of BIM in designing low-cost buildings, like temporary housing [1]. According to Lachmi Khemlani, “...we could facilitate the process by exploring how advanced technologies such as BIM can be applied, not only towards improving buildings and processes that are already quite good to begin with, but also in tackling the challenges of housing for the lower half of society” [1].
A key property for effective temporary housing is modularity of the components (leading into prefabrication of elements) and quick construction times. One example of BIM application in low-cost, temporary housing is the Loblolly House, designed by KieranTimberlake Associates [1]. Kieran Timberlake Associates extensively used BIM for the design and development of the building, but also for the fabrication and assembly of the building. Using BIM, the components of the building were modeled in high levels of detail with assigned parameters and then fabricated offsite, to then be assembled physically after being virtually assembled with BIM.
However, the use of BIM in the low-cost housing professional practice is seldom. While it has great potential in its effectiveness to create efficient housing at a lower cost, the industry has a long way to go in actually implementing BIM for the purpose of low-cost temporary housing [1].
I found this article interesting, and I appreciate the research into alternative BIM use, it seems to me that the effectiveness of BIM in producing better designs at lower costs seems universally relevant to the entire construction industry. I felt the answer to the author’s question of “Can BIM enable making low-cost housing easier to build, with more efficiency, lower cost, and improved quality?”, is an obvious yes.
Along with the further development and implementation of BIM in the industry, 3D printing is improving and finding notable purpose in the future of construction.
One innovative use, similar in purpose to BIM used for low-cost housing, is the use of 3D printing to build small, yet cheap and affordable housing, with extremely fast construction times. The construction firm, Icon, and New Story, a nonprofit for housing construction in the developing world, are collaborating to achieve, cheap and quick housing construction utilizing 3D printing. The current created dwelling is a single story, 380 square feet, structure made of concrete that was created in only 48 hours [2]. Similar to small scale 3D printing, the system functions by placing a mortar material, similar to concrete, layer by layer. To form the structure, the 3D printed mortar is held in place by a metal frame till it sets. The frame and construction is modular, and if desired, multiple homes can be placed back to back to create a larger home [2]. The 3D printer uses BIM created floor plans.
The concept is being taken to El Salvador to quickly produce simple, yet highly functional, homes for poor families. The cost for a family to build one works out about $30 a month. In association with the nonprofit, the cost is put towards a pay it forward system, to pay for more homes as well as maintenance for the entire community [2].
As described above, the humanitarian potential of BIM and 3D printed structures is remarkable. While cheap, effective, and quick, the use of 3D printing in the construction field will have a notable impact on the jobs market for construction workers. In the future when the use of 3D printing in construction becomes more widely adopted, I imagine a lot of construction jobs will be rendered obsolete, and the jobs created by the new system will not match the number of jobs lost. I think the transition will be similar to the transition into CAD that rendered a lot of drafters jobs obsolete since Engineers could now draft their own drawings.
Sources:
[1] Khemlani, Lachmi. “BIM in Low Cost and Temporary HousingAECbytes Feature (March 16, 2016).” Technology Toolkit for Sustainable Design at Orcutt Winslow Partnership: AECbytes Feature, www.aecbytes.com/feature/2016/BIM-LowCostHousing.html.
[2] Lee, Dave. “3D-Printed Homes Turn Sludge into Shelter.” BBC News, BBC, 15 Mar. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/technology-43411581.
Comments:
1) Richard,
I agree that while AI provides great convenience and its connectivity has clear benefits, the security threat AI presents needs to be thoroughly investigated and protected against exploitation. AI presents a very dangerous relationship between convenience and safety, and it is clear, especially with the notes on hackers fooling the AI used in self-driving cars to drive at higher speeds, that we must be careful that systems do not become so overly automated that safety is compromised. The idea that hacking and security breaches are becoming more popular due to the lucrative information that is stored online is alarming when considering all of the future tech that has interconnected communication systems. Edge computing is an interesting solution, but again, it becomes an issue of loss of privacy for security. The privacy is up to the developer to be benevolent and I imagine a lot of people will have a hard time trusting developers, especially with all of the Facebook privacy developments recently.
2) Nana,
2) Nana,
The potential of 3D printing in construction is remarkable, especially considering all of the 3D printers being developed. In the future, it seems like the cost and duration of construction with almost any material will be greatly decreased. I agree that 3D printing structures in the future is a positive thing, but I think the jobs generated 3D printed construction will not match the jobs lost by it. However, I think the humanitarian potential possible for quick and cheap construction for third world countries is reason enough alone to pursue the implementation and use of 3D printing. Imagine the potential 3D printing could have for a refugee camp. If majority of building materials and components could be 3D printed, the overall construction length and footprint of impact for projects could be drastically reduced. These articles have definitely made me excited for the future of construction.
B1 - HVAC, Sensors, AI
There is perhaps no better measure of how advanced our society has become than the sheer extent of data which we generate and analyze in every facet of our lives. We live in an era marked by incredibly granular telemetry, where even our online correspondence and browsing habits are gathered and pored over by algorithms that are most of the time profiling us within a database and trying to determine the best way to advertise things to us. For better or worse, the amount of data we are capable of gathering and the means by which we gather it has never been more varied in scope, however the true mark of our advancement as a civilization comes in the form of for what purpose, and to what end, we analyze this mass of increasingly-available data. Within the engineering and construction industry, the ultimate goal is to create an efficient, resilient, and most importantly functional design that serves user needs while not overtly using more resources than necessary, and recent advances in data analysis have served this end succinctly.
One example of the ways in which data is being used to meet this need is HVAC system analysis. The Building Performance Analysis (BPA) tools available within Revit allow designers to, given a relatively simple set of required data regarding building location and orientation, analyze a building's expected energy consumption, solar radiation distribution, daylighting illuminance, and heating/cooling loads. [1] These performance metrics can be recorded and reanalyzed following various minute changes to the design with tools for direct side-to-side comparison. Most importantly, all of this can be done from directly within the Revit interface, before a design is even finalized. The ability to predict and optimize HVAC performance through data analysis will, in the right hands, lead to more efficient buildings that minimize usage costs to owners and help preserve our environment at the same time.
The per-optimization made available to designers through these Revit tools is incredible, but it is actually only the first step in building efficiency maximization. Now more than ever before, sensor-laden tools are available for building users to monitor and improve building performance from within the space itself. Take for example any number of smart devices, from the high-tech Nest thermostats to even the simplistic (by today's standards) motion-activated floodlights found along the perimeter of many suburban homes. One prime example is the Keen Home Smart Vent. Keen takes something as simple as a common household air vent and outfits it with temperature and air pressure sensors that red out to a tailored smartphone app. The sensors on the vent allow its AI to create a "profile" for the specific room that vent is in, including usage patterns. Once this database of room profiles is established, Keen's AI will be able to independently meet, but not exceed, the needs of each room by keeping vents open while in use but closing them at times when the space is unoccupied. There have been initial results along the lines of 22% reduced air vent run-time after installing the Keen system. [2]
The Keen Smart Vent is a great example of why true innovation doesn't have to come in the form of brand new inventions- There's an old saying that trying to reinvent the wheel too many times will eventually leave one with a square wheel. Our true call to action as engineers is taking what already is and finding ways to improve it and make it better serve our needs as a society. The data we need in order to create an ideal world is here, and its never been easier to access and analyze; We just have to find the most intelligent ways to use it.
[1] Stine, Dan. "Building Performance Analysis in Revit 2016 R2 with Autodesk Insight" AECBytes, 20 Nov 2016, http://www.aecbytes.com/tipsandtricks/2015/issue76-revit.html
[2] Rhodes, Margaret. "The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed" Wired, 14 Jan 2015, http://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/
Comments on Others:
Weiyi Tang
I agree that the environment is one of the largest issues facing our industry today. Environmental efficiency is wildly important. I had no idea that 80% of NYC's greenhouse emissions came from buildings, that's a really intimidating figure and illustrates the importance of developing things like the Keen vents that will improve home energy performance, even if only by a margin of roughly 22% as cited in the article. I believe there is equal emphasis given within your post to constructing new buildings with efficiency in mind as well as retrofitting existing buildings to be more efficient and I agree that both are equally important. A product like the Keen Vent will be just as effective in an existing building as it would be in a new construction.
Christian Tait
3D printing has been an interest of mine for some time, I'm glad to see your post focus so preeminently on the potential of the practice. I am very eager to see how integration between BIM software and 3D printing technology will improve over time, as I feel strongly that 3D printing has a major place in the future of construction. Automation is a scary word for a lot of people but the benefits of 3D printing are so numerous, not the least of which being reduction of the inherent danger of manned construction work alongside the expedited "design to fabrication" timeline as you have described.
One example of the ways in which data is being used to meet this need is HVAC system analysis. The Building Performance Analysis (BPA) tools available within Revit allow designers to, given a relatively simple set of required data regarding building location and orientation, analyze a building's expected energy consumption, solar radiation distribution, daylighting illuminance, and heating/cooling loads. [1] These performance metrics can be recorded and reanalyzed following various minute changes to the design with tools for direct side-to-side comparison. Most importantly, all of this can be done from directly within the Revit interface, before a design is even finalized. The ability to predict and optimize HVAC performance through data analysis will, in the right hands, lead to more efficient buildings that minimize usage costs to owners and help preserve our environment at the same time.
The per-optimization made available to designers through these Revit tools is incredible, but it is actually only the first step in building efficiency maximization. Now more than ever before, sensor-laden tools are available for building users to monitor and improve building performance from within the space itself. Take for example any number of smart devices, from the high-tech Nest thermostats to even the simplistic (by today's standards) motion-activated floodlights found along the perimeter of many suburban homes. One prime example is the Keen Home Smart Vent. Keen takes something as simple as a common household air vent and outfits it with temperature and air pressure sensors that red out to a tailored smartphone app. The sensors on the vent allow its AI to create a "profile" for the specific room that vent is in, including usage patterns. Once this database of room profiles is established, Keen's AI will be able to independently meet, but not exceed, the needs of each room by keeping vents open while in use but closing them at times when the space is unoccupied. There have been initial results along the lines of 22% reduced air vent run-time after installing the Keen system. [2]
The Keen Smart Vent is a great example of why true innovation doesn't have to come in the form of brand new inventions- There's an old saying that trying to reinvent the wheel too many times will eventually leave one with a square wheel. Our true call to action as engineers is taking what already is and finding ways to improve it and make it better serve our needs as a society. The data we need in order to create an ideal world is here, and its never been easier to access and analyze; We just have to find the most intelligent ways to use it.
[1] Stine, Dan. "Building Performance Analysis in Revit 2016 R2 with Autodesk Insight" AECBytes, 20 Nov 2016, http://www.aecbytes.com/tipsandtricks/2015/issue76-revit.html
[2] Rhodes, Margaret. "The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed" Wired, 14 Jan 2015, http://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/
Comments on Others:
Weiyi Tang
I agree that the environment is one of the largest issues facing our industry today. Environmental efficiency is wildly important. I had no idea that 80% of NYC's greenhouse emissions came from buildings, that's a really intimidating figure and illustrates the importance of developing things like the Keen vents that will improve home energy performance, even if only by a margin of roughly 22% as cited in the article. I believe there is equal emphasis given within your post to constructing new buildings with efficiency in mind as well as retrofitting existing buildings to be more efficient and I agree that both are equally important. A product like the Keen Vent will be just as effective in an existing building as it would be in a new construction.
Christian Tait
3D printing has been an interest of mine for some time, I'm glad to see your post focus so preeminently on the potential of the practice. I am very eager to see how integration between BIM software and 3D printing technology will improve over time, as I feel strongly that 3D printing has a major place in the future of construction. Automation is a scary word for a lot of people but the benefits of 3D printing are so numerous, not the least of which being reduction of the inherent danger of manned construction work alongside the expedited "design to fabrication" timeline as you have described.
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